Movies
[Box Office] ‘Paranormal Activity 4’ Opens 43% Lower Than ‘Part 3’, ‘Paranormal Activity 5’ Officially Announced
Paramount Pictures’ Paranormal Activity 4 hit theaters on Friday. And it pulled in a little north of $30M domestic (and around $26.5M foreign for a worldwide total of around $57M). All in all this is a huge success for a film that only cost $5M to produce. They’re already in the black. It’s just not as huge of a success as they’re used to. That’s down $22M in the opening frame from PA3 and down $10M or so from PA2, which makes it the weakest performer in the series since PA1 opened in limited theaters in 2009.
Overall the film has a pretty weak Cinemascore, polled audiences gave it a “C” which means a lot of them will be telling their friends not to go (I guess they agreed with Brad). It could end up as the lowest (or 2nd lowest) grossing entry. But let’s not break out the violins just yet. This series is still insanely profitable – and Paramount just officially announced Paranormal Activity 5 for October 2013.
My hope? Either drop the mythology completely or answer some questions about it. The whole “witches” angle isn’t very scary to me. Seeing Katie running around breaking people’s necks isn’t very scary to me either. So either get interesting with some answers or get scary again with ghosts f*cking with people in new ways. Maybe stop tossing people around and figure something else out? I really liked PA3 because it had some legit scary moments – and I’d like a return to pushing things forward in the medium rather than adding a bunch of expositional mumbo jumbo. Maybe this series is like Star Trek and every other one will be good.
Did you see PA4 this weekend? Tell everyone what YOU think by writing your own review.
We learned earlier this week that “Hannibal” creator Bryan Fuller is no longer the showrunner of A24 and Peacock’s Friday the 13th TV series “Crystal Lake,” with A24 choosing to “go a different way with the material.” What does that mean? It means A24 is still planning on bringing a Friday the 13th series to life, but the overall vision will likely change.
Kevin Williamson (Scream, Sick) had been on board to write an episode of the “Crystal Lake” series, and Williamson took to Twitter today to tease some of those original plans.
Williamson writes, “Bummin’ hard, so sorry I won’t be a part of what would have been an epic Bryan Fuller show. Your pilot was so beautifully realized. A gorgeous portrait of a mother unraveling in her grief. Not to mention bloody horrific!”
He adds, “I was so looking forward to our hour long chase episode!“
Kevin Williamson is of course known for writing incredible slasher movie chase sequences, including the ones seen in the original Scream and Scream 2, as well as I Know What You Did Last Summer and last year’s Sick. It’s hard not to imagine how cool an hour-long Friday the 13th chase episode could be in Williamson’s hands, but alas, it’s not happening anymore.
The silver lining? Williamson is directing the next installment in the Scream franchise.
The director of Cube, Splice and several episodes of “Hannibal,” Vincenzo Natali also took to Twitter this weekend to give us a taste of the “Crystal Lake” series we’ll never see.
Natali tweets, “I have read the first two episodes. Bryan Fuller’s Crystal Lake was well on its way to becoming another Hannibal-level reinvention that was simultaneously beautiful, sad, poetic, funny and horrifying. I mourn its passing.”
A24 and Peacock are now searching for a new showrunner for the series. Stay tuned.
Peacock had given the project a straight-to-series order in 2022, with “Crystal Lake” being described as an “expanded prequel” to the original Friday the 13th franchise featuring both Jason Voorhees and his mother, Pamela Voorhees. Original Friday the 13th final girl Adrienne King had even signed on for a recurring role in the planned A24 television series.
Bummin’ hard, so sorry I won’t be a part of what would have been an epic Bryan Fuller show. Your pilot was so beautifully realized. A gorgeous portait of a mother unraveling in her grief. Not to mention bloody horrific! I was so looking forward to our hour long chase episode!
— Kevin Williamson (@kevwilliamson) May 11, 2024
I have read the first two episodes. @BryanFuller’s Crystal Lake was well on its way to becoming another Hannibal-level reinvention that was simultaneously beautiful, sad, poetic, funny and horrifying. I mourn its passing. https://t.co/ob0kF4MQHM
— Vincenzo Natali (@Vincenzo_Natali) May 11, 2024
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